How to Have the Best Flight of Your Life
How to Have the Best Flight of Your Life
It is almost December. With December comes greatly anticipated holiday travel, even if it means flying home as opposed to an exotic new destination. As flying is an integral part of these travels, it is important to begin your travels on the right foot with an amazing in-flight experience, leaving you feeling fresh upon arriving at your destination. At a high altitude it is incredibly easy to get de-hydrated and that causes sluggishness and aches, as well as dry and cracking skin upon arrival. Hydration is absolutely paramount to not only having a great flight experience, but to arrival at your travel destination chipper and looking ready-to-go!
Whether it’s a 17-hour international or two-hour domestic flight, here are four simple ways to stay hydrated while flying:
1. Drink up! Remember you cannot bring a full water bottle through security, so make sure to show up with an empty one at the airport. Then, after passing through security, make a bee-line for the water fountain and fill up. For maximum hydration, I drink a full bottle of water the morning before my flight and fill up at the airport to bring a full bottle aboard for the flight. If you are heading on a very long flight, purchasing a second water bottle from the airport stores near your gate could be well worth your while. Or to stay eco-friendly, bring two empty bottles along with you.
2. Avoid alcohol and caffeine. It can be oh-so-tempting to consume when the stewardesses walk by again and again offering up their selection of alcoholic beverages, coffees, and teas. Resist the urge if you can, and your body will thank you for it. Not only can these beverages make it difficult to stay hydrated, they can also give you headaches and jitters that are maximized at a high altitude.
3. Kick up the hydration a notch with re-hydration tablets! These are game changers. You can purchase them at a local drug store and they are the hidden gem of having the best possible in-flight experience. The low humidity on aircrafts causes an extra loss of electrolytes so use these to replenish that loss and get your body back to optimal hydration. Pop one of these into your water bottle once before boarding, while you can still refill your bottle, and then once again after boarding the plane (check the dose on the particular tablets you purchase to verify) They’re offered in a variety of flavors so you have your pick and they work wonders.
The rehydration tablets I’ve used with success can be found here: https://amzn.to/2Ov5F0S
4. If at all possible, avoid the airplane food. I bring along a fistful of nutrient bars in my personal luggage item so as to avoid it as much as possible. The high-altitude travel makes it difficult to smell foods as usual and leads to less satisfying experiences with food. Knowing this, airlines make up for the difference in flavor by adding lots of sugar or salt. While they are experimenting with seasonings and working to change this in the future, currently airplane food, whatever the dish, will leave you feeling even thirstier and will work against your hydrating efforts.
Using these tips to stay hydrated while flying will give you a departure from your flying struggles and have you leaving the plane with your eyes as bright and skin as smooth as when you boarded. When the plane wheels hit the runway you can sit at ease embracing the excitement of travel, no longer tainted by the reminders of the long journey it took to get to there. Happy Flying!
Photo by Leio McLaren (@leiomclaren) on Unsplash
